Tequila is a strong alcoholic beverage made in Mexico from fermented blue agave juice. The alcohol content of the drink varies from 38 to 40 degrees (for internal consumption, Mexicans make tequila up to 46% ABV).
Tequila is a very popular drink among young people, despite the fact that the drink is neither particularly expensive nor particularly tasty. There is a belief that getting drunk on tequila is different from getting drunk on other drinks: supposedly, unusual fun, daring, and the relaxation itself becomes bright, colorful, and unusual.
In reality, getting drunk on tequila is not much different from getting drunk on vodka. It’s just hard to seem young, modern, and unusual when drinking vodka; but when drinking tequila, it’s easier to convince yourself of your uniqueness.
How to drink tequila?
Tequila is drunk from thin, long glasses with a thick bottom. Such glasses for tequila are called “horse” – caballito.
Lick, drink, bite
A popular method of drinking tequila is that first, a pinch of salt is taken, which is poured into the hollow of the thumb (between the index and thumb), then the salt is licked, tequila is drunk in one gulp, and then the lime is bitten (lime can be replaced with lemon).
All other ways of drinking tequila somehow come from the one described above. Some use a mixture of salt and pepper instead of salt; they pour it onto the inner part of their palm; they bite a lime before drinking.
It is worth noting that lime or lemon is very handy – the taste of tequila is quite specific, so lime helps to completely overpower the taste. In addition, the acidity makes the drink easier to drink, so if there are no hardcore alcoholics in the company, the use of lime or lemon will be very useful.
Often in movies, this particular way is demonstrated, somewhat modernized for the camera: salt is poured on the girl’s shoulder, a lime is put in her mouth, and tequila is poured into her navel. Accordingly, one has to lick her shoulder, drink tequila from her navel, and pick up the lime from her mouth with one’s mouth. In theory, it all sounds pretty good and beautiful.
Now remember, how many girls are there whose navels you wouldn’t mind drinking tequila from?
Rapido, or Tequila-Boom
The second popular way to drink tequila is called rapido. It involves diluting tequila with tonic, covering the glass with your hand, hitting the bottom of the glass on the table, and then drinking the beverage. In Russia, this method of drinking is also known as “tequila-boom,” where tonic is replaced with Sprite, and the sharp hit promotes the rapid release of carbon dioxide.
f the glass has no bottom, then you can refuse this method and go look for a free belly button.
Types and classification of tequila
Tequila is traditionally divided into two large groups:
- Tequila 100% Agave – this tequila is made only from agave juice, and no other spirits are used in its production. Such tequila is bottled within Mexico, in the region near the city of Tequila.
- Tequila Mixta (Mixed) – this tequila uses spirits from agave as well as other spirits. By Mexican law, to produce such tequila, at least 51% of the used spirit must be from agave. The rest can be from sugarcane or corn syrup.
In addition, the following names are also used for tequila:
- Plata or Blanca – “silver” or “white,” aged for no more than two months;
- Joven – unaged tequila, additionally colored with caramel;
- Gold – “gold” tequila, also colored with caramel;
- Reposado – “rested” tequila, aged for no more than a year;
- Anejo – “aged” or “vintage” tequila, with an aging period of up to 3 years.
- Extra Anejo – “extra aged” tequila with an aging period of more than 3 years. It first appeared on the global market in 2005.
Tequila Production Technology
What is Tequila made from?
The main raw material used for Tequila production is blue agave, Agave tequilana Weber, from the agave family. In Mexico, the plant is called “maguey”. The plant has quite large dimensions, thick stems, and a rosette of thick fleshy leaves.
Agave is mainly grown in the state of Jalisco, where most of the world’s tequila market is produced.
How is Tequila made? Before flowering, the plant accumulates the highest amount of sugar. At this time, the leaves are cut from the agave, and the core of the stem weighing 30 kg or more is extracted – “pino” (Spanish: “cone”). The leaves and pino are crushed, pressed, and in some cases, sugar is added to the resulting juice.
After that, the fermentation process begins, which lasts from 2 to 12 days, mostly around four days. Previously, yeast from the agave leaves themselves was used for fermentation, but today, cultivated types of yeast are used.
Then there is a double distillation: the middle fraction of the distillation is diluted with spring or distilled water to a strength of 50-55%.
If sugar was added during fermentation, such tequila is called Mixto – it has low quality.
As mentioned earlier, both only agave juice spirit and a mixture of agave juice spirit and other spirits can be used in production.
Tequila History
The Maya already made Tequila, but the Spaniards decided to make it a mass drink. In 1758, the Cuervo family bought a small plot of land near the town of Tequila. Antonio de Cuervo planted an agave plantation here. In 1795, Jose Maria Guadalupe de Cuervo, a descendant of Antonio, received permission from the government to produce a drink here called “mescal vino de tequila”. Cuervo named the drink after the nearby town.
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